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, August 26-Wally Rippel gets a smooth start and hearty sendoff, and the Caltech car is on its way.
ternatiue to smog. His listeners smiled indulgently. Now the smog remains and Rippel is gone, but the manner of his departure hinted that electric propulsion may not be such frivolous business after all. At 9 p.m. PDT on August 26 the electriENGINEERING AND SCIENCE
fied VW, with Rippel and some classmates, took .off for MIT i n Cambridge, Mass. At the same moment a group of MIT students started off for Caltech i n an electrified 1968 Corvair. The event was the result of a challenge to race electric cars across the country issued i n January t o MIT students b y Rippel. Both sides figured to take u p t o 5 days for the trip. Neither did. The MIT car made it to Pasadena 7%days after the start, and Caltech hummed into Cambridge 37 hours and 20 minutes after that. But b y the time the judges finished assessing penalties for such activities as towing, recharging with a portable generator between official charging stations, and replacing parts, the tortoise had once more beaten the hare. Caltech's corrected time of 210 hours was 30 minutes less than MIT's. Cost of the electricity used was about $25 for each car, but before you head for Chicago i n an electric runabout, consider a few of the logistics associated with the Great Electric Car Race: 54 charging stations set u p i n advance by Electric Fuel Propulsion Company of Ann Arbor, Michigan, in cooperation with local utility companies along the route ( U S 66, the Indiana-OhioNew York-Massachussets Turnpikes). Charge times ranged from 45 t o 60 minutes. One or more "chase" cars supplied by each entry, carrying additional crew members (6 total for Caltech; 13 for MIT) and, in Caltech's case, towing a portable 220-volt generator. Ice for cooling batteries (50 pounds for Caltech, 350 for MIT) at most stops. In addition, for purposes of timing the entries (and also t o carry additional spare parts and personal gear), each team had a judge and a station wagon supplied by Machine Design magazine. MIT's entry, developed more or less by their electrical engineering department, had a car supplied by General Motors and $20,000 worth of batteries supplied by Gulton Industries. It was considerably more sophisticated than Caltech's car, which
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really belonged t o Rippel. The car and the batteries-$600 worth-are his, although he had received several donations of equipment and help from Caltech and outside enterprises as the race neared. But MIT's sophisticated car was a laboratory model and had never been driven until shortly before the race. Reports from Cambridge were that the car would go faster than Caltech's and recharge in less time. Rippel, admitting that MIT had an edge in equipment, figured he would have a reliability edge because of simpler design and proven components. Ultimately, that turned out t o be the case, although once the race started the gremlins i n both vehicles emerged. Members of the MIT crew-who had a notion of what they might face after a lastminute trial run that almost burned up their set o f nickel-cadmium batteries-had to tow their car about 250 of the first 500 miles. They had a constant heat problem, but they partially solved it b y cramming the battery areas full of ice at each charging station. Caltech's problems were less spectacular, but nonetheless vexing. The main problem, too, was heat, especially while recharging the lead-cobalt batteries. It forced the Caltech crew t o slow down the recharging rate at first, wasting driving time.
Between Needles, Calif., and Kingman, An; : VW busts have one important advantage over Corvairs-room t o snooze.
To Caltech crew member Dick Rubinstein, '69, riding in the chase car, the trip went like this:
I remember waking up about six miles from Needles. Andy was on the two-way radio with Wally, and Wally said he only had about 90 seconds worth of power left, so get ready to use the generator We didn't know how much farther the car would go, and it was slowing down. But after a minute-or maybe a little more-we rode over the crest of a hill, and it was downhill all the way to Needles. Wally used the downgrade to recharge the batteries with the motor, and we got into Needles with power to spare.
Meanwhile the MIT car was reported to have been towed to its first few charge points. The batteries didn't seem t o hold enough power. Towing was allowed, but with a penalty of five minutes per mile according to the race rules.
We had to run around a little in Needles to fiqd the charge point, but when we arrived, people there gave us soft drinks and made us welcome. I had to stop awhile and be interviewed on the phone by a wire-service reporter. I caught some more sleep between Needles and Kingman. On the way we had to use the portable generator for the first time-a half-hour penalty In Kingman we pulled up behind a school to the recharging point. It was after midnight, and while two of us were walking to a gas station, we were stopped by the police. They wanted to know what we were doing walking around town at that hour. We explained.
Between Kingrnan and Seligman, Ariz.: Sunrise on the desert finds the portable generator reviving the batteries.
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Winslow, Arizona: This charge station isn't as elegant as some, but amps are amps no matter how they're delivered.
where Wally was. Ron Gremban ['69] stayed with the car. Wally had finished phoning and found out we would get another motor, that it was being flown to Phoenix, and we could pick it up there.
Things weren't going much better for the M I T crew, either. They reported in just a few miles east of Buffalo, N.Y., where they were stalled after burning up a transformer. They were delayed seven hours, but after making repairs they began making good time across Ohio. Repairs took a little longer for the Caltech machine, since the new motor was being flown all the way from New York.
We all sat down in Seligman and had a beer or two, and at one point Wally stepped outside to watch a train go by-he has a fascination with trains. Then we decided to go on to Flagstaff, leaving Ron with the electric car. We were looking for Sam Barnes, too, since all our clothes and other stuff were in his car. We all looked grubby, but went in a restaurant anyway and had a good steak dinner. Then we found a place to stay-and we washed some clothes in the motel. We all got a little sleep, but about 1 1p.m. Andy and I took off for Phoenix to meet the plane. I slept most of the way, but when we got there we found it was a case of hurry-up-and-wait because the plane didn't arrive until 3:30 a.m., and it was another hour and a half before we got the motor. We carted it to Flagstaff, then slept while the others put the adaptor plate on it and took it to Seligman.
Eust of Seligviturt: George Swartz tries to decide how to remove the burned-out motor from Caltech's crippled car.
OCTOBER 1968
Albuquerque: W i t h the motor catastrophe behind them, the CaLtech crew enjoys the attention of early-morning pedestrians.
They must have found Sam somewhere, because he woke me up at the motel and we took off for Ashfork to meet the electric car. It sure was nice to see that thing pulling into town under its own power. Apparently they had no trouble getting the motor in the car, especially since they were able to borrow a transmission jack to help. From there on the going got smoother. We were still pretty disorganized, with everybody's stuff in the wrong places, but we soon worked all that out. We met Pat Silverthorne [the one with the mumps] in Flagstaff, where he was recuperating with an aunt who lives there. Everything went all right through Winslow, Ariz., and Sanders, Ariz., but we had a minor problem in Gallup, N.M. Everything was fine with the electric car, but we had an eye problem in ours. Andy, who wears contact lenses, was getting ready to drive and was putting his eyes in when one lens disappeared. We spent about 40 minutes searching for it with no luck. After we gave up, he looked in his lens case, and there it was, where it had fallen. Our next recharging station was in Grants, N.M.,
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where the power company people had coffee and donuts waiting for us. They were talkative and friendly. Getting into Albuquerque was an easy trip. It was sort of downhill going in, and our reception in Albuquerque was something else. They had the recharging station roped off on the sidewalk, a big sign was up, and they had a girl dressed up as Reddy Kilowatt. They provided us with showers, bought us breakfast, and gave us a red carpet welcome. In all we probably stayed in Albuquerque about a half an hour longer than we should have.
For MIT, the problems were compounding. The car caught fire when it was being recharged at Elkhart, Indiana. It was put out quickly, but damage was worse than first estimated, and the delay was more than 10 hours. The MIT car was next reported in the area of Springfield, III., where they were hating problems with the motor overheating. The method they chose for cooling it was to pour water on it.
ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE
was driving without a relief driver since Pat Silverthorne got the mumps-couldn't be found. He was making a practice of driving ahead a stop or two to catch some sleep as we drove. We called everywhere but couldn't find him, and we even had the Texas Highway Patrol out looking. We found we could get the new diodes in Dallas, but boy, that was a long way off. Finally Sam got our message and came back. We charged up, ate breakfast, and took off again-after a delay of three or four hours. The weather was still kind of damp, too. We finally solved our battery overheating problem in McLean, Tex. While the car was charging, I went into town to buy some rubber tubing and a rubber syringe bulb. We got some small ice cubes and put them on the batteries, then used the tubing to siphon the water out of the battery enclosure. We used the syringe bulb to start the siphon. That was our handy-dandy cooling system, for which I blushingly accept credit. It was also in McLean that a Texan came to our rescue. One of the bystanders walked off, then returned bearing a nice, ice-cold 50-pound watermelon. It was home-grown, and the best I've ever tasted.
Silverthorne was feeling better and would meet us in Cleveland. Of course in Cleveland [headquarters of Machine Design magazine] there were all kinds of people out to greet us. We met the race judges and the members of Sam Barnes' family. We also learned the MIT car was in California.
there and gave us a room in the motel to take showers. We probably lost more time on this kind of thing than for any other reason, but it was great. Going into East St. Louis, Ill., we got lost. We ended up waiting nearly an hour for somebody from the power company to find us and lead us to the charge point. They had 350 pounds of ice ready when we got there, but we only needed 50 pounds. Monday morning-a week after we left Caltechwe were in Elkhart, Ind., and we learned that Pat
The MIT car way indeed in California. But here the problems multiplied. Crew members didn't like the charging set@ at Newberry, so they elected to tow part of the way to the next point, Victorville. The driver, however, neglected to take the car out of low gear while being towed at 65 mph. The electric motor, turnins, over too fast, disintegrated. The MIT crew notified the judges and others that they intended to tow the car directly to Caltech, bypassing the last two charge points. They arrived at 3:26 p.m. and crossed the finish line.
After Cleveland the stops were pretty smooth, and many looked just alike. The only place we encountered any problem was at the last stop before Cambridge. I called ahead to the power dispatcher at Charlton, Mass., but he almost refused to accept my call. He finally took the call but said it wouldn't
Cambridge: T h e eventual winners get the checkered flag on Wednesday morning nearly nine days after they left Pasadena.
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ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE
Cambridge: T h e weary Caltech crew co lects some laurels, including congratulations from MIT President Howard Johnson.
do any good because he didn't want to call anybody out to work on overtime just to charge our batteries. I called Bob Byers, the public relations man at MIT, who called the power company, and they assured us we'd get recharged. But it didn't work out that way. When we arrived, we found the point was six miles off the highway instead of the short distance we were told, and then we found he couldn't supply three-phase power. We ended up charging the batteries with the portable generator anyway. Before we reached this last charge point, we had been met by an escort committee from MIT, and they led us right in to the campus. That was the end of our long, weary journey. 9 9
The boys were greeted on arrival7:46 a.m. Wednesday-by MIT President Howard Johnson, then attended a news conference that afternoon and a banquet that night sponsored by Caltech alumni. By the time of the banquet they knew they'd won the race by half an how. The following night-at the Tavern-onthe-Green restaurant in New York's Central Park-crew members of both teams were honored at a victory dinner. The celebration was arranged by Caltech alumnus Victor Wouk, PhD'42, of Gulton Industries, which had provided equipment (notably MIT's
OCTOBER 1968
nickel-cadmium batteries) and advice to both teams. Wally Rippel was presented with a trophy for the "1968 National Electric Car Competition" given by the Edison Electric Institute and Reddy Kilowatt, Inc; he insisted it belonged not t o him, but to Caltech, and had it forwarded to Pasadena. By Saturday both cars (Caltech's having been trucked from Cambridge, MIT's flown from San Bernardino) were on display at the Smithsonian Institution i n Washington, D.C., highlighting a "Cars of the Future" exhibit sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Wally Rippel has gone on to Cornell for graduate work, but Ron Gremban, one of the co-drhers, is already making plans for another race next summer. Electric Fuel Propulsion Co. has offered improved leadcobalt batteries that will recharge faster and run as many as 250 miles between charges, and a new motor capable of speeds u p t o 90 mph. W h a t Gremban still lacks is a car-preferably a V W squareback sedan -in which t o install them. This year's race seemed, i n some ways, to be more a test of endurance than performance. A second race might reverse that emphasis and make for an even more excit0 ing contest.
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